Students protest Bhopal disaster

Published 7:00 pm, Saturday, December 2, 2006

Daily News photos/BRETT MARSHALL

On the anniversary of the Union Carbide pesticide leak in Bhopal, India, University of Michigan students Manan Desai, from left, Deepa Pendse, and Neil Sardana, approach what they thought to be a Dow Chemical board member's home with a banner and orange prison jumpsuit as a reminder of the disaster that occurred 22 years ago. "We aren't forgetting," Desai said.

The Moorland Drive home was quiet as four Indian college students walked up the path to the front door. They were there once again to shed light onto the 1984 Bhopal chemical disaster. One of them carried an orange prison jumpsuit, a symbolic gift to a Dow Chemical Co. board member.

Unfortunately, it was a puzzled homeowner who opened the door to their knocks. Board member J. Pedro Reinhard had moved.

The students made plans to go to the next house.

"The reason we (protest) is mainly to bring the issue home to the board," said Deepti Reddy.

"This is a message to Dow's executive board that we aren't forgetting," added Manan Desai.

Reddy and Desai are of the generation born when disaster hit Bhopal. On Dec. 3, 1984, thousands of people in Bhopal, India died after a pesticide leak at a Union Carbide plant. Many people became sick and died, and more people continue to do so to this day. The protesters say that is caused by the refusal of Dow Chemical to clean up the site. The company bought Union Carbide in 2001.

Dow Chemical spokesman Scot Wheeler said the Indian government is responsible for the cleanup. He said Dow never owned or operated the Bhopal plant, nor did it have any affiliation with the plant.

"If they truly want to do something, they should turn their efforts to the government of India," Wheeler said. "The government owns that site and is in a position and has the authority to do something."

The local protest was fraught with problems. Security guards blocked the homes of board members Arnold Allemang and Geoffrey Merzei, plus the home of Andrew Liveris, president, chairman and CEO of Dow Chemical. The Midland Police Department showed up at at least one of the homes.

The protest was part of a larger effort by Students for Bhopal. The group will protest nationwide, ending on Wednesday with a rally at the University of Michigan. The local protesters were University of Michigan and Wayne State University students, mainly of Indian descent.

They carried with them testimonies from Indians who lived through the Bhopal disaster, like Razia Bee, who was 26 at the time. She said that she woke up to find her children vomiting. Soon she was also throwing up, and the entire family ran to the hospital.

"My 3-year-old daughter Nazma had swelled up so much like she would burst," she said.

Bee's daughter died on the 15th day. Her husband died about a month later.

Hajra Bi was 21 and living in the Ayub Nagar neighborhood of Bhopal. She woke in a panic, choking, in a room filled with smoke. She and her husband grabbed their three children and joined the crowd running outside.

"By then my eyes had become so swollen that I could hardly open them," she said. Bi was pregnant at the time.

Her oldest son died within three months. Her newborn son died in his sleep. Finally, her daughter died. And her husband isn't able to work.

The group of students arrived at the North Quail Run Drive home of board member Arnold Allemang. A truck and two security guards blocked the driveway, so they draped the orange jumpsuit over the mailbox.

At their second stop, Students for Bhopal members were met by Dow Chemical security blocking the driveway to Dow board member Arnold Allemang's home. The students left an orange prison jumpsuit draped over the home's mailbox in an attempt to send their message.

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